Travelers Business Insurance Review 2023: Pros, Cons and Coverage Options

Travelers offers an online portal for business customers and a broad slate of risk management resources.
Rosalie Murphy
By Rosalie Murphy 
Updated
Edited by Ryan Lane

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Travelers business insurance

5.0

NerdWallet rating 

Travelers was the second-largest writer of business insurance in the U.S. in 2021, according to the Insurance Information Institute

. Its comprehensive offerings may be a good fit for larger businesses or those in highly regulated or technical industries.

Many of Travelers’ industry-specific packages provide businesses like heavy equipment dealers, oil and gas producers and public entities with insurance as well as risk management consulting and training. If someone is injured on the job, Travelers’ online portal for workers’ comp claims sets it apart — it offers easy access to claims-related information for employers, medical professionals and injured employees.

You may want to consider other options if your insurance needs are simple, however. And you can’t get a quote online — you’ll need to contact an independent agent to buy coverage.

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Travelers business insurance: Pros and cons

Pros

Cons

Everyone involved in a workers’ comp claim, including employers, employees and care providers, can access an online portal to track the claim.

Can’t get a quote online.

Extensive library of risk management resources.

Available in all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.

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Travelers business insurance: Types of coverage

Travelers sells the following types of business insurance, among others:

  • Commercial auto insurance.

  • General liability insurance.

  • Workers’ compensation.

  • Professional liability insurance.

  • Cyber liability insurance.

  • Commercial property insurance.

  • Inland marine insurance.

The Travelers business owner's policy includes general liability, commercial property and often business interruption insurance. Optional add-ons include cyber liability or data breach coverage, crime insurance, contractor’s equipment coverage and non-owned vehicle coverage.

Like many commercial insurers, Travelers organizes coverage options into packages for specific industries, ranging from fine art to renewable energy.

Risk management

In addition to selling commercial insurance, Travelers offers a large toolbox for risk management. In the company’s Risk Control portal, customers can read articles, sign up for trainings and conduct self-assessments to identify insurance risks within their companies and start to mitigate them. A mobile app offers additional support, including a workplace hazards inspection checklist and tool to track fire protection system impairments.

Travelers offers more hands-on risk management services, too. For instance, the company operates its own industrial hygiene laboratory, which can test samples from customers’ facilities to monitor levels of potentially hazardous materials. It also offers its own equipment inspections and safety consulting.

Travelers workers’ comp insurance

Travelers has a staff of more than 2,000 people who handle workers’ comp claims and an online portal that facilitates communication between them and employers, employees and care providers.

Injured employees can access their claim information online, including tracking medical and disability payments and checking doctors’ appointments. Doctors, physical therapists and other care providers can check the status of a claim and upload bills and other documents to Travelers.

Some information for employers and employees is available in Spanish.

Travelers commercial auto insurance

Travelers' commercial auto insurance includes liability, uninsured/underinsured motorist and physical damage coverage, but doesn't include personal injury protection, which insurers like Geico include as part of their commercial auto policies.

Travelers will cover individual vehicles as well as fleets of five vehicles or more. The company also offers an industry-specific commercial auto policy for the public sector, which covers vehicles like police cars and city buses.

How to get Travelers business insurance

Travelers doesn't offer business insurance quotes online. Instead, you’ll need to contact a business insurance agent near you, who will gather some information about your business and provide a quote.

Travelers business insurance is sold by independent agents, meaning they can present you with quotes from a variety of insurers — not just Travelers — and help you choose the coverage that best fits your needs. They are paid on commission.

You can search for agents who sell Travelers insurance on the company’s website.

Travelers also owns Simply Business, which generates online quotes from several different business insurance companies. This service is based in the United Kingdom, though, and its U.S. options are limited.

Travelers customer service and claims resolution

If you have to file a claim with Travelers, the company will assign you a claims staff member who will gather information about your loss and evaluate how much the insurance company will pay out. You can track the process through an online portal.

Travelers business insurance customers can file claims and pay bills online. You can also call to report a claim or pay a bill 24 hours per day, every day.

You can generate a certificate of insurance through an online portal, but you'll need your agent's help to add an additional insured to your policy.

Travelers business insurance cost

The cost of commercial insurance varies greatly depending on what kind of work you do, where you’re located, what kind of coverage you need and your claims history.

Travelers doesn't provide information about the average cost of its commercial insurance policies. To get a quote for Travelers insurance, find a licensed agent who sells their policies. NerdWallet recommends getting quotes from several providers to find the one that will best meet your needs.

Should you choose Travelers for business insurance?

Travelers may be a good fit for your company if:

  • Your insurance needs are complex. Travelers offers just about every type of business insurance, including policies for highly technical industries.

  • Workers' comp is a top priority. Travelers' centralized portal for workers' comp claims helps injured workers, medical care providers and employers stay on the same page, which can be valuable if you work in a risky industry where injuries happen more frequently.

  • You don't need to manage your policy online. With Travelers, you'll need to work with an agent to get a quote, buy insurance and add an additional insured to an existing policy. You can file some claims online, but availability varies depending on the claim type.

Alternatives to Travelers business insurance

Travelers won't be the right fit for every business, especially small companies that prefer to manage their coverage online. Consider these alternatives instead:

  • If you want a robust online experience: Next Insurance allows you to get a quote and buy a policy online. Once you have coverage, you can generate a certificate of insurance, add an additional insured and file and track your claims online.

  • If you run a small company with simple insurance needs: Chubb sells BOPs, general liability, professional liability and other basic types of business insurance online to companies with annual revenue of $1 million or less. These policies may be sufficient for many smaller companies, and you can get coverage online fast.

  • If your top priority is commercial auto insurance: Progressive sells commercial auto insurance online, and its policies cover a wide variety of vehicles. It can be a good fit even for businesses with complex auto insurance needs.

Methodology

Business insurance ratings methodology

NerdWallet’s business insurance ratings reward companies that offer small-business owners reliability and ease of use. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, customer complaint data, shopping experience and customer service. Learn more about how we rate small-business insurance companies.

These ratings are a guide, but insurance policy details and prices can vary widely from business to business and provider to provider. We encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes.

NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

Insurer complaints methodology

NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2018-2021.

To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period.

Our star ratings consider ratios for both general liability insurance and commercial property insurance. When an insurer sells policies that are underwritten by several different insurance companies, we consider the NAIC complaint ratios of all the underwriters.